The Lincoln County War

Lincoln County, New Mexico, in the late 19th century was a place where money and power went hand in hand, and those who held them ruled with an iron fist. At the heart of this system was “The House,” a monopoly run by James Dolan and Lawrence Murphy. Their business, LG Murphy & Co., controlled everything from cattle sales to dry goods, banking, and even law enforcement. If you wanted to do business in Lincoln County, you had to go through The House—or face the consequences.

But in 1876, a new challenger arrived. John Tunstall, an ambitious young Englishman, saw Lincoln County as ripe for opportunity. He, along with lawyer Alexander McSween and cattle baron John Chisum, opened a rival store and bank, hoping to break the Murphy-Dolan stranglehold on local commerce. Tunstall’s arrival upset the balance of power. Unlike Murphy and Dolan, who exploited their monopoly for personal gain, Tunstall offered fair business practices and better prices, attracting local ranchers and cowboys who had long suffered under the weight of The House.

However, in Lincoln County, challenging the status quo was dangerous. Dolan saw Tunstall as a direct threat and wasn’t about to let him take over his empire. What began as legal maneuvering quickly turned to violence. Sheriff William Brady, a Dolan ally, began targeting Tunstall and McSween with fraudulent lawsuits. Meanwhile, Dolan enlisted the Jesse Evans Gang, a group of notorious gunmen, to intimidate Tunstall and his men.

Then came February 18, 1878—the day everything changed.

On that fateful day, a posse deputized by Sheriff Brady—including members of the Jesse Evans Gang—tracked down John Tunstall and his men while they were herding horses back to Lincoln. Instead of arresting him, they shot Tunstall in cold blood, executing him with a bullet to the back of the head. His young ranch hands, including a 19-year-old Billy the Kid, watched in horror as their employer was gunned down.

Tunstall’s murder was not just a killing—it was an act of war. His men, unwilling to let the murder go unanswered, formed a group known as The Regulators, dedicated to avenging his death and overthrowing Dolan’s corrupt rule.

The Regulators, led by Dick Brewer, Billy the Kid, and other gunfighters, set out on a revenge campaign. The first target was Sheriff Brady himself. On April 1, 1878, the Regulators ambushed Brady and his deputies in the streets of Lincoln, killing him in broad daylight. Billy the Kid, wounded in the attack, would later be blamed for leading the assassination.

The war then spiraled into a brutal tit-for-tat bloodbath. Over the next few months:

• • The Regulators tracked down and executed Frank Baker and William Morton, two men responsible for Tunstall’s murder.

• • Jesse Evans, the Murphy-Dolan enforcer, continued his campaign of violence, wounding Regulators and leading a posse that killed Frank McNab on April 29, 1878.

• On July 15, 1878, the war reached its bloody climax with the Battle of Lincoln, a five-day siege between the two factions.

During the Battle of Lincoln, the Regulators, now led by Alexander McSween, were surrounded in McSween’s home by Dolan’s men. After days of gunfire, the house was set ablaze. As the flames consumed the building, McSween and his men made a desperate break for freedom, only to be gunned down in the streets. McSween was killed, but Billy the Kid managed to escape.

With McSween dead and the Regulators scattered, the Lincoln County War was effectively over. The Murphy-Dolan faction had won, but at a great cost. Their monopoly was weakened, and lawlessness still ruled the county.

Billy the Kid, now a fugitive, continued his outlaw ways. Over the next three years, he became one of the most wanted men in the West, engaging in cattle rustling, shootouts, and prison escapes. In 1881, he was captured by Sheriff Pat Garrett, sentenced to hang for the murder of Sheriff Brady, and later escaped from jail—killing two deputies in the process.

But Billy’s luck ran out. On July 14, 1881, Pat Garrett tracked him down to Fort Sumner and shot him dead. The Lincoln County War had long ended, but its most famous participant had become an enduring legend.

While Billy the Kid’s fate is well-documented, Jesse Evans remains a mystery. After serving time in a Texas prison, Evans disappeared in 1882, never to be seen or heard from again. Some say he assumed a new identity and lived out his days quietly in Florida. Others believe he died in obscurity. Whatever the truth, Evans was one of the most feared gunmen of the Lincoln County War, and unlike Billy the Kid, he managed to slip into the shadows of history.

The Lincoln County War was more than just a battle between outlaws—it was a conflict driven by greed, corruption, and power. At its heart, it was a struggle between old-world monopolies and the rising influence of independent businessmen like John Tunstall. While Dolan’s faction ultimately survived, the war weakened the old system, paving the way for a more structured, law-abiding New Mexico.

But the war also gave the world Billy the Kid, a symbol of the outlaw West, and a reminder of how quickly a young man caught in the wrong place at the wrong time can become a legend.

And so, in the end, Lincoln County was never the same—but neither was the mythos of the Wild West.